Birdie Bath Problems

[DebT]

Part of my fight against feather destruction means having to bathe my CAG several times a week with aloe vera juice.

 

Prior to spraying my CAG, I've tried to get her into a medium sized bowl, a large bowl, a bird bath, a dripping fountain, my shower, the sink. I've tried putting toys in water bowls; even food in water bowls days before I add the liquid so she won't see the bowl as something foreign.

 

Switching to spritzing: I've tried 3 different types of sprayers, cool juice, warm juice, the bird in the bathtub on a rug, the bird on a portable perch on the sun room floor, the bird on her play gym, holding the bird on my hand, and she's totally freaked out by getting wet.

 

She is now, after a couple of weeks of this, getting to the point where if she has a hint of what's coming, she runs off to the highest point of her gym so I can't reach her. When I spritz her she starts squawking, flapping and running away. She acts like she thinks I'm trying to kill her. I keep telling her in a soothing voice how good the shower is for her, she's okay, it feels good to be wet, etc. When I get her somewhat wet I tell her what a good girl she is and she trembles like she's been through a traumatic event.

 

So, are there any secrets to getting a grey to like her showers? I'm afraid that if we keep going this way she will eventually begin to mistrust me completely.

[Dave007]

First off, most greys don't like baths or getting wet until they're ready to. Rarely does that coincide with when we wanna bathe them.

The next thing you need to keep in mind is that doing something to a bird who doesn't like that something, even though that something is beneficial should be done in the shortest amount of time to lessen the initial shock and prolonged anger on the part of the bird.

It's not the aloe that he doesn't like. It's not the water that he doesn't like. He simply doesn't like the act of bathing or misting which isn't uncommon. So, stop trying to bathe the bird and stick to the misting. Since he also doesn't like misting, that should only be done when he's in his cage. It shouldn't be done to him while he's on outside things that he associates with playing or relaxing. Being outside of the cage allows him to easily avoid you and if you chase him, it'll be that much harder.

While he's in his cage, open the door and use the mister and squeeze the trigger with 1/2 squirts. Only aim for the upper and lower breast area and also between the wings and the body. This can be done even if the wings aren't open. Just squirt between the wings and the body. The aloe or water will saturate those areas because they aren't waterproof. Your bird will continue the job of spreading the fluid around to other parts of his body even if he doesn't want to. That happens when he preens afterward,

Doing this to him in the cage will cause him to squawk or yell or growl and he might try to bite at the nozzle. That too isn't uncommon. After doing this quite a few times, hell calm down and be more accepting of what you're doing but you should still expect the growling,yelling and nipping at the nozzle except that these things will lessen in intensity.

More than likely, he'll never like it but the faster you get it over with the better. Some people offer a nut or some other item they know their bird likes but because the bird is pissed off, he might not accept it so just put it in his/her food bowl. It's not uncommon for a bird to not accept something if they're pissed off.

As far as getting a bird used to showers, well you can try different things but that doesn't mean it'll work. The vast majority of greys don't like showers but some do. Think about the possible injuries that could occur when a bird who doesn't like bathing is on a shower perch and falls off or is suddenly frightened. An accidental fall to the bottom of the tub or a flight into the wall of the shower isn't good.<br><br>Post edited by: Dave007, at: 2007/12/27 19:13

[BMustee]

I second the advise dave gave you. My Elmo HATES baths, but they have to be done. Just get in and get out as fast as you can as long as you are getting him saturated.

[DebT]

Thanks Dave, again good and useful advice. My birds are not normally in their cages, only when they sleep at night. I'll have to maybe get them used to going in there for short times during the day and then go in with the spritzer. We'll start today!

[birdmom]

Hello Deb! wow ur having a time of it alright.

 

Have u tried buying a shower perch, one of those Pvc things with two suction cups that stick to the tiles in your shower? Why not try just putting her up on one, far away from the spray, up high about eye level, and go in there and take a shower with her on it?

 

She will benefit from the steam, and she will see u showering, and maybe after 5 or 6 times, she won't be so afriad of water, if you start to splash just a bit on her while u r showering?

 

If she freaks about going into the shower stall, then start by putting her onto a stand up T stand in the bathroom, while u shower, and let her see u in there and make like u r having a grrreat time in there!

 

joanne

[DebT]

Hi Joanne,

 

Yes, I've been taking her in the shower with me ever since I brought her home the first time. I have two shower perches, one for each grey. She loves coming in the shower with me as long as I don't get her wet--she sings and talks up a stream. I've tried diverting some mist her way with my hand and she screams and tries to get away; I'm afraid she may fall off the perch if I get too insistent.

[MazyAK]

Hi Deb: My grey Mazy only tolerates the shower and much preferred to bathe in her water bowl but only when I put new cold water in it. I began giving her cool only drinking water and put a 12 inch heavy glass pie pan in her cage with just 1/2 inch of cold water in it. I place it so she doesn't poop in it from any of her perches and faithfully change the water several times a day. For the first three weeks she ignored it, but just last week she went down to explore it. She first just drank from it. Two days later she put one foot in, and two days after that she was all in flapping about wildly making a grand wet mess. The next day, (yesterday) when I put the new water in she was on her way down before I could get the pan in place. I try to change the mess out in her cage bottom as soon as she is done and back on her perch.

The key here is patience and persistence. Keep changing the water in front of her daily and after time her curiosity will get the better of her and she will make the choice to explore it. Remember it took me a month for me, it could take longer.

Good Luck

Bruce & Mazy

The key here is

[judygram]

Thats an excellent idea, Bruce, thanks for sharing that with us, if it works for you it could work for any one of us.

[KatB]

Yay! Here's something Oliver is good at! At least, he isn't bad at it I, too, take Oliver into the bathroom with me when I shower. I don't take him into the shower itself, he doesn't seem to be ready for that. I do put him on a tabletop perch on the vanity and leave the shower door open so he can see while I ooh and ahhh and talk about how good the water feels. When it's time for his shower, I put the tabletop perch in the bottom of the shower stall and put him on it. He knows a shower is coming, so if I just put him on the floor of the shower he runs. On the perch, he stays put long enough for me to spray him. He does bite at the nozzle and he is irritated with me for doing it, but he doesn't get outright pissed. Sometimes if he really isn't in the mood for a shower, he'll squawk and flap when I approach the shower with him. At those times, I take the perch out, put him on it, then put it into the shower with him already on it. So far, the second approach has always worked...

[KatB]

By the way, I can't remember if flax seed oil has been mentioned in these threads concerning plucking and feather condition? I got the recipe for Oliver's breakfast from one of Sally Blanchard's articles, and it includes a drop of flaxseed oil. She seems certain flax seed oil is what keeps her birds' feathers in top condition. Another article I read suggested serving a small amount of crushed walnuts along with the flax seed oil, indicating the walnuts contain something that complements the flax seed oil.

[sashagirl]

How I give my birds a bath is I turn the shower on warm and place them in the shower quickly.Then I leave them for a few minutes until they get wet.Then they don't associate the whole bad task with me.Once the time is up I go in an rescue them with a towel and we are the best of friends.Now as for the Aloe Vera spray that is being mentioned.Are you using the juice or the Aloe Vera Distilled Liquid?I use the one put out by George's.

There is a difference between the two.

 

Marcia

[DebT]

Wow, more great ideas folks, I'll try them all until I find what works best for us.

 

Flax seed oil: I'll read Sally Blanchard's article. I was using ground flax seeds and oil in the mash I make, didn't know about the walnuts. There's always so much different advice by different bird experts. I'm using red palm oil and was told by one expert to grind up brazil and/or macadamia nuts in the food, then someone else says brazils are bad. One said wheat germ oil is best, which I also put in the food. I'm so confused!

[KatB]

DebT wrote:

I'm so confused!

 

I know exactly what you mean! Seems like everything is a controversy with these birds. The article I read that suggested the walnuts gave two lists, an A list and a B list. Flax seed oil was on the A list and walnuts and red palm oil were on the B list. The author said I should choose one from each list to combine in the diet. Like you, I have a hard time being sure who to believe, but here's the link to the article if you're interested.

 

http://community.livejournal.com/featherpicking/33122.html

[KatB]

I have a question about the aloe vera juice. I have been using a commercially sold bath spray, but I'm running low so I went to Walmart this morning and bought a gallon of aloe vera juice (Fruit of The Earth brand, 99.8% pure, from organically grown, cold pressed aloe, no sugars, starches or thickeners). Is this the correct product? It appears to be intended as a drink... Sashagirl mentioned there's a difference between juice and distilled liquid. Which is which?

[danmcq]

Yes, that's perfect KatB.

 

The distilled has been extract from a process that removes basically all foreign substance and also gives a safe self life with needing to refrigerate it after opening.

[KatB]

Thank you! I love a non-ambiguous, straightforward and confident answer

[birdmom]

hi KatB, good for you! yes I too use flaxseed oil, I put it onto their cooked food and I also dice up walnuts. It's all the Omega 3/ Omega 6 fatty acids. I also put ground flax seeds in to their oatmeal. joanne

 

ps, its good for people too, I enjoy the nutty taste it give the oatmeal. cheers!

[birdmom]

Hey Deb,

 

You know waht I read an article last week, it said that greys in the wild do not bathe the way many other Parrots bathe. Like Amazons, who love showers. It said they watched the Greys perch and they bathe by going out on the branch of their tree when its raining.

 

The greys would just go out until they got wet enuf, they didn't flap their wings like other Parrots do. Then they'd go back under the branches of the trees after they got wet enuf. I think the humidity in their natural environment may be quite high. My humidifier is helping Buddi R u still using it?

 

I'll try to find that article for you. joanne

 

ps, I wouldn't personally make her if she is that upset. Just put her on a perch in the bathroom while you shower and try it for a month. Maybe she will decide its not so bad on her own.<br><br>Post edited by: birdmom, at: 2007/12/29 21:31

[KatB]

Periodically, Oliver will wash his head and beak (and everything within a 3-foot radius) by splashing away in his water bowl. If I try to "help" (he spells that "i-n-t-e-r-f-e-r-e") by giving him a bigger bowl of water or replentishing the water he's splashed out, he stops. Maybe Bruce's suggestion of always keeping a 'bathtub' available to her will do the trick. Also, in another thread, there was talk of grey's loving to play in ice water. Maybe a ice-cube floating in the swimmin' hole will encourage her.

[birdmom]

Hi Deb, okay here is that article that tells how Greys natually bathe in the wild ..(by Donna Hefton): its at

 

http://www.netpets.org/birds/reference/behavioral/gryart.html

 

It basically says that where they come from gets over 100" of rain per year. In Denver, you get none.

 

So you need that humidifier on every day. Its helping me here and I'm in Cali.. Buddi didn't pluck when I lived in Denver; however, I always had the humidifer on, because Karen told me to.

 

joanne

 

PS: KatB is right, I posted a new topic a month ago called Water Party in Ice Water. In fact just yesterday I saw Charlie trying to play in his water dish, so I set the big casserole dish in his cage with newspapers underneath and threw a toy in the water. He jumped right down there and played in it for half an hour, then he had enuf and went back up on his perch. Hang in there Deb! Someone told me to go buy a brand new paint pan, those ones at the hard ware store, they are angled and rectangular, and you pour paint in it to dip your brush in? they also have little treads on them so the bird can grip it, and since they're angled, they can work their way down however deep they want. Some of them are pretty heavey duty plastic. Try putting in on the bathroom floor with about two inches of water and a towel under it and throw her plastic toys in there? You can always put some aloe in the water.<br><br>Post edited by: birdmom, at: 2007/12/29 22:08

[DebT]

The paint pan is a great idea, I'll go get one tomorrow. I've been trying to think of what would work well for the baths, the best I came up with is a dog bowl that has an edge for perching. I'll try the ice cube trick too. Thanks for the link to the article, its a GREAT article and just what I needed.

 

I have two humidifiers in our sun room and I put them on full blast. I go through about 3 gallons of water a day! I had gone out for a couple of hours today and when I came back (I'd closed up the sun room) it was hot and so humid in there that the windows were dripping. It felt really good! I'm sure my plants are loving it out there too.

 

Thanks again, that article has some pretty nice steps to take to get the birdies used to water.

[birdmom]

Sure! Please let me know what kind of paint pan u get, okay? I need to go get one also I am using a corning ware casserole dish that has a little lip on the edge but Charlie tries to flap his wings in there and they hit the sides. You know what.... my humidifier had hard water mineral deposits on it from the water in Denver. I am told that putting white vinegar in it will make it come off but havent had time to try it. Anyway, I am putting water in it after the water is filtered thru my Britta in hopes I won't get any more crud in the humidifer, not too sure about that.....

[tickle]

I am new to the game. I have an African Grey. I think it was born in 96 but no sure. I have had him for two weeks. He is still getting used to us so how do I give him a bath? Where do I start?

[birdmom]

To: birdmom

Subject:

From: Frank V (CeasarsDad) Add to Address Book Add Mobile Alert

 

Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2007 22:33:13 +0000

 

 

This is a bird forum for christ sake. Not your online banking. Give me

a break. You have got to be kidding me. Tell me your joking. NO SITE

blocks others from reading your profile. This is an open forum. NOT A

SECURE ONE

 

Don't make demands on me OK. Because if you do I will NEVER remove your

data and I will tell the other admins to do the same. Now you have

ruffled the wrong feathers

 

CD (CeasarsDad)

Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry

 

-----Original Message-----

From: birdmom

 

Date: Sun, 30 Dec 2007 14:25:14

To:Frank V (CeasarsDad)

Subject:

 

 

Frank,

Please read my post on Very Lame Security of Personal Information.

 

Remove my profile and access at once. This request is not negotiable: Please, second request. I cannot be associated with such lame security. I will be testing it to see if I can log in.

 

Until I cannot log in, I will continue to request u remove me. I feel your non-secure approach to member personal data is very lame. I dont even wanna hear lame things like, well they dont have to fill it in. Most people assume when they register that only another registered member could view this.

 

That way at the very least if a crime was committed against them, the authorities could obtain an identity and location of another person via traceroute, from anyone registered on this site who was communcating with a member thru emails.

 

Remove my profile and access at once. Even if you are going to fix it, I dont really like the way you guys work. This request is not Negotiable.<br><br>Post edited by: birdmom, at: 2007/12/31 00:55

[Christian]

ok.. so omega 3 and 6 fats are good for greys.. a easy way to get them is peanut butter.. as you may know that there somethimes is a oily layer on the peanut butter. try and get it off. it has a lot of omega 3 and 6 fats. body builders use peanut butter because its the good type of fat.